Economics, I've been thinking about making X card for my Amiga 2000, its an open source 68030 card. Thing is this, if I order 1x of the PCB, and then 1x of all the parts needed, its going to cost me close to 50% of the price I can buy one for, and thats IF anyone is making it. Which I'm not sure they are...
Now, lets say I ordered 10 or 20 of the PCB and then ALL the parts, and then made them all. Well, Id be making maybe £150 profit on each card after costs, and lets say at a push I could make and test one card every 2 days. So Id only be making £75 profit, on ALL those cards and id have to spend close to a month doing that, full time!
It looks like IF people are making stuff and selling it for £350 then BUY it to support them. Because god knows its hard work making this stuff. Or, if it is open source and you can make it yourself, then do so. I have to say, considering the cost, and the effort, I think £350 for an antique card makes sense. The production runs are so small, there is no real economy of scale, and some chips these days are VERY expensive in their own right. Sadly, it is what it is....